Chichimecatecuthli (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1520) was a

Tlaxcaltec The Tlaxcallans, or Tlaxcaltec, are an indigenous Nahua people who originate from Tlaxcala, Mexico. The Confederacy of Tlaxcala was instrumental in overthrowing the Aztec Empire in 1521, alongside conquistadors from the Kingdom of Spain. The ...

nobleman and military man. He was a general of the armies of

Tlaxcala Tlaxcala, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tlaxcala, is one of the 32 federal entities that comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Tlaxcala, 60 municipalities and t ...

during the

Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was a pivotal event in the history of the Americas, marked by the collision of the Aztec Triple Alliance and the Spanish Empire. Taking place between 1519 and 1521, this event saw the Spanish conquistad ...

, in which he first warred against

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...

before allying with him along with his people. He belonged possibly to the faction of Ocotelolco.

Biography

According to

Bernal Díaz del Castillo Bernal Díaz del Castillo ( 1492 – 3 February 1584) was a Spanish conquistador who participated as a soldier in the conquest of the Aztec Empire under Hernán Cortés and late in his life wrote an account of the events. As an experienced ...

, Chichimecatecuhtli and Xicotencatl the Younger commanded the 50,000 Tlaxcaltec warriors who stopped the Spaniards and their

Totonac The Totonac are an Indigenous people of Mexico who reside in the states of Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo. They are one of the possible builders of the pre-Columbian city of El Tajín, and further maintained quarters in Teotihuacán (a cit ...

allies before arriving to Tlaxcala in September 1519, believing them to be vassals to the

Aztec Empire The Aztec Empire, also known as the Triple Alliance (, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ or the Tenochca Empire, was an alliance of three Nahuas, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states rul ...

. He was in charge of a fifth of the contingent, which hailed from

Huejotzingo Huejotzingo () is a small city and municipalities of Puebla, municipality located just northwest of the Puebla, Puebla, city of Puebla, in central Mexico. The settlement's history dates back to the pre-Hispanic period, when it was a dominion, with ...

, ''

Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España () is a first-person narrative written in 1568 by military adventurer, conquistador, and colonist settler Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1492–1584), who served in three Mexican expeditions: those of Francisco Hernández de Córdoba (1517) t ...

'', chapter LXV while the rest belonged to Xicohtencatl the Elder from

Tizatlan Tizatlan, in pre-Columbian Mexico, was one of the four independent altepemeh (polities, sing. altepetl) that constituted the confederation of Tlaxcallan. Today Tizatlan is a part of the modern city of Tlaxcala, and the Pre-Columbian city is vi ...

, Maxixcatzin from Ocotelolco, Tlahuexolotzin from Tepeticpac and Tecapacaneca de Tepeyanco. The second day of the battle, due to their little success against the Spanish army despite their immense numbers advantage, Xicotencatl the Younger and a captain son to Chichimecatecuhtli accused each other of incompetence, causing a loss of authority for the former and the withdrawal in protest of the latter. After the lords of Tlaxcala accepted the peace offered by Cortés, Chichimecatecuhtli accompanied them to meet the conquistador. After the Sad Night in July 1520, Chichimecatecuthli was again among the lords of Tlaxcala when they received Cortés after his disastrous escape from

Tenochtitlan , also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, was a large Mexican in what is now the historic center of Mexico City. The exact date of the founding of the city is unclear, but the date 13 March 1325 was chosen in 1925 to celebrate the 600th annivers ...

, the capital of the Aztec Empire. Inner turmoil burst when Xicotencatl the Younger called for wiping out the remaining Spaniards in exchange for peace with the new Aztec emperor Cuitlahuac, an idea plainly rejected by his father and the rest of the lords. Chichimecatecuhtli, still a political enemy of the youngster, discovered Xicotencatl's intention to carry on his plans and had him arrested and brought to the Tlaxcaltec senate. Xicotencatl tried to convince his father and the rest, for which he was attacked in a subsequent brawl in the senate and only escaped being executed due to the Elder's intervention. After Maxixcatzin's death and the solidifcation of the Hispano-Tlaxcaltec counterattack against the Aztecs, Chichimecatecuhtli was appointed supreme general of Tlaxcala and joined Cortés with 10,000 warriors to conquer Tetzcoco, which would use as a naval base in the eponymous lake. Along with two captains Díaz calls Teulepile and Tiutical, he later escorted the workers who brought wood to build Spanish

brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Ol ...

s. Chichimecatecuthli expressed his irritation at being ordered to guard the convoy's rear guard, but he changed his mind upon learning Aztecs most often targeted that part, and also after he would have the chance to fight alongside

Gonzalo de Sandoval Gonzalo de Sandoval (1497 – late 1528) was a Spanish conquistador in New Spain (Mexico)Diaz, B., 1963, The Conquest of New Spain, London: Penguin Books, and briefly co-governor of the colony while Hernán Cortés was away from the capital ...

, one of Cortés' lieutenants, who was popular among the Tlaxcaltecs due to his marriage with the princess Tolquequetzaltzin. Chichimecatecuthli later served as a Cortés' second in command during the conquest of

Xaltocan Xaltocan was a pre-Columbian city-state and island in the Valley of Mexico, located in the center of Lake Xaltocan, part of an interconnected shallow lake system which included Lake Texcoco; this place is now inside the village of San Miguel Jalt ...

, and joined his circle during the

siege of Tenochtitlan The fall of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire, was an important event in the Spanish conquest of the empire. It occurred in 1521 following extensive negotiations between local factions and Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. He ...

. His enemy Xicotencatl the Younger had been rehabilitated as a fellow captain of the forces, but he fled in order to stage a coup of Tlaxcala and capture Chichimecatecuhtli's lands behind his back, hoping to muster enough strength to change Tlaxcala's allegiance from Cortés to the Aztecs. Cortés was warned and sent envoys for the Younger, but when he refused to return, and under his own father's verdict, he was executed. Meanwhile, Chichimecatecuhtli remained a staunch supporter of the Spaniards even after most of the Indian allies withdrew due to a purported prophecy of Aztec victory, with only he,

Ixtlilxochitl II Ixtlilxochitl II (c. 1500–c. 1550) was a Nahua nobleman, tlatoani of Texcoco. He allied with Spain during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire and assisted Hernán Cortés during the Siege of Tenochtitlan. He converted to Christianity under ...

and two other sons of Xicotencatl the Elder with their bodyguards remaining. con sus guardias personales. The allies eventually returned after the prophecy proved false, brought by Tecapaneca. After the total victory over Tenochtitlan, Chichimecatecuhtli and the rest of native captain returned to their lands with large amounts of cured human meat from their Aztec enemies to eat in their feasts.Díaz del Castillo, chapter CLVI

References

{{reflist Tlatoque 16th-century deaths Tlaxcaltec nobility Year of birth unknown Spanish Indian auxiliaries